The role of school-based mental health counselors (SBMHCs) is essential in addressing the mental health needs of U.S. adolescents. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine SBMHCs' perceptions about factors that affect the use of SBMH services by adolescents from a school district in Connecticut. SBMHCs were chosen for this study because they provide direct mental health services to adolescents. Mechanic's general theory of help-seeking provided the framework to interpret research findings using the 10 interrelated constructs. Fifteen SBMHCs participated in face-to-face semistructured interviews. Colaizzi's 6-steps-guide was used to organize, code, and identify common themes. The following themes were identified: (a) there was no uniform process to identify and refer a student for services, which makes it time-consuming for SBMHCs to identify students in need; (b) there was a lack of established trusting relationship between adolescents and SBMHCs; (c) adolescents with persistent truancy at school had issues associated with poverty, housing, and family security that negatively affect access to use SBMH services; (d) financial resources were needed to support schools to hire more qualified professionals, create programs, and assist families of adolescents who may need SBMH services. Barriers to the use of SBMH services were identified as the lack of parental engagement, SBMHCs time constraints, and social stigma. Study findings may raise awareness to mental health access factors and barriers faced by adolescents and SBMH professionals and help improve access to critical SBMHCs and use of mental health services as needed.

Students with disabilities (SWDs) at a combined junior/senior high school in a Midwestern state have opportunities to participate in inclusive education settings. However, they consistently score below proficient on state standardized reading assessments, despite an increased focus on literacy by content area inclusion teachers. Without improved literacy skills, many SWDs will experience a decrease in standardized test scores and graduation rates, which, in turn, will affect access to a college education and better careers and livelihoods. The purpose of this bounded qualitative case study was to explore 7th and 8th grade content area inclusion teachers' attitudes toward and perceptions of literacy, and how they used literacy interventions and strategies in their lessons. Vygotsky's social development and constructivist learning theories, as well as Rumelhart's schema theory were used for the conceptual framework. Eight 7th and 8th grade inclusion teachers who taught science, mathematics, and social studies volunteered and participated in semistructured interviews and provided lesson plans for analysis. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis and axial coding. Themes, based on the conceptual frameworks, revealed that teachers need to coordinate lesson plans and instruction, offer differentiated instruction, and understand research-based interventions and strategies that are subject specific. It is recommended that inclusion teachers use the same research-based literacy strategies correctly for SWDs to understand content. These endeavors may contribute to positive social change by encouraging administrators to offer content specific literacy-based professional development for inclusion teachers to improve SWDs' academic performance and future educational and employment opportunities.

Health disparities continue to persist in the United States, with individuals in rural areas often experiencing greater health concerns and health outcomes than individuals living in suburban or urban areas. Lack of access to healthcare providers is one contributing factor to these disparities. Studies have shown that healthcare providers from rural areas are more likely to return to those areas to work. Increasing pipeline education programs within K-12 settings may help create a larger pool of rural individuals interested in healthcare professions. Connecting education and careers to the well-being of a community may help students to see how their future careers can contribute to the vitality of their community, such as through sociopolitical development. This dissertation evaluated and compared the effectiveness of two conditions of an existing healthcare career education program, Project HOPE. The seven-week intervention was implemented with rural 8th grade students within the context of a seminar class. The results of the study showed, overall, that the intervention is effective at increasing healthcare career search self-efficacy; however, the findings suggest that it decreases community engagement. In contrast to the hypothesis, the results showed that the standard condition of the intervention was more effective at increasing socio-cognitive variables than the sociopolitical development condition. The findings are discussed in context of existing literature and with consideration to the sociopolitical context in which the intervention was implemented. Implications of the findings for vocational psychologists, as well as future directions of study are discussed.

Researchers have suggested there is a wide range of neuropsychological deficits individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN) possess, including impairments in nonverbal reasoning, attention and processing speed, memory, and executive functioning. While growing, examination of the neuropsychological functioning of children and adolescents with AN is quite sparse compared to the abundance of research on adults with AN, and the many conflicting findings have been attributed to inconsistent methodologies across studies. This study examined the neuropsychological functioning of children and adolescents with AN by conducting a quantitative study loosely based on Bayless et al. (2002) and Remberk, Namysłowska, Krempa-Kowalewska, Gadaś, and Skalska (2011). Results indicated verbal intellectual functioning was significantly higher than other intellectual domains, and verbal memory was almost significantly higher than nonverbal memory (p = .051). Negative correlations were found between individual subtests and clinical data (e.g., age of onset of AN and duration of AN) as well as the EDI-3 Personal Alienation scale and the BMI-for-age percentile. Clinical implications include providing treatment improving cognitive functioning and implementing a biopsychosocial model.

The purposes of this dissertation were to provide additional information about life satisfaction – globally and in regard to relevant dimensions of life satisfaction – and the relationship between these aspects of life satisfaction in a sample of profoundly gifted youth. Participants in the Davidson Young Scholars Program (DYS) – a program designed specifically for profoundly gifted youth – completed a 90-item survey that included items pertinent to a variety of life domains. Findings paint a picture of profoundly gifted adolescents as satisfied across life dimensions and, perhaps, more satisfied than their peers. Their satisfaction was not related to gender, though varied with age. Their school satisfaction was related to their accelerative dose, though not with whether they had been radically accelerated. The five dimensions of life satisfaction provided a very good fit (45.2%) for understanding global satisfaction in this sample and add context to existing knowledge about satisfaction among profoundly gifted adults. Further research should address how satisfaction with self-changes over time and the lack of differences in satisfaction between genders during adolescence becomes significantly different over time.

Investigations regarding age-related behavioral, emotional, and social differences between younger and older groups of children with NLD remain scarce (Ozols & Rourke, 1988; Casey, Rourke, and Picard, 1991; Pelletier, Ahmad & Rourke, 2001) and have shown mixed results regarding the direction and severity of internalized and externalized behaviors. The current study explored the behavioral, emotional, and social differences between two groups of children and adolescents. The "younger" group consisted of children between the ages of 6 and 10 years of age. The "older" group consisted of children and adolescents between the ages of 11 and 16 years. Seventy two patient charts were selected for this study (males = 41, females = 31). A one factor Multivariate Analysis of Variance was run to investigate externalized and internalized age-related differences between the two groups. No age-related differences were found indicating that younger and older children may manifest the behavioral, emotional, and social characteristics of NLD in a similar manner. Additionally, results indicated that more than half of the total sample had a comorbid diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. However, results did not suggest that children and adolescents with NLD are at an increased risk for internalized psychopathology. When the NLD group was compared to a pediatric sample, it was found that the NLD group was more likely to demonstrate explosive behaviors, anxiety, and self-esteem problems. Although no significant age-related differences were found in the current study, the investigation has implications for practice as information from this study may aid clinicians in making an earlier diagnosis of NLD in children and adolescents, as well as lead to better interventions.

Youth with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have higher rates of depression than healthy youth. A cognitive-behavioral treatment, primary and secondary control enhancement training-physical illness (PASCET-PI), for depressed adolescents with IBD was associated with reductions in depressive symptoms. The purpose of this study was to examine the salience of nonspecific processes (factors inherent in any human relationship) and specific processes (factors related to therapy content) during PASCET-PI sessions and their association with improvements in psychological functioning. Participants included 10 adolescent patients with IBD with mean illness duration of 31.9 months. At intake, eight participants qualified for a diagnosis of major depressive disorder and two for a diagnosis of minor depression. Participants completed measures of depressive symptomatology and clinicians completed the Children's Global Assessment Scale (CGAS). Measures were completed at posttreatment, 6 months posttreatment, and 1 year posttreatment. Independent judges used the Psychotherapy Process Q-sort (PQS) to rate the salience of therapeutic processes for PASCET-PI sessions #2 and #8 for each subject. PQS ratings of PASCET-PI sessions were con-elated with ideal prototypes of cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT), inteqnrsonal therapy (IPT), and psychodynamic (PD) orientations that were previously developed based on PQS ratings of an ideal session, according to expert therapists. Findings indicate that PASCET-PI sessions most closely resembled the CBT prototype (r = .51, p < .05). Change scores on outcome measures were correlated with PQS-prototype correlates to determine which processes were associated with improved psychological functioning. Findings suggest that reductions in depressive symptomatology were associated with processes characteristic of various orientations. Thus, CBT processes were not exclusive in promoting change. There were strong positive relationships between change scores of the PCS and prototypes of all orientations (CBT, IPT, and PD) at posttreatment and between the CDI and ASQ and all orientations at 6-months follow-up (r = .62 -.72, p < .05). Comparisons of specific process-outcome correlates and nonspecific process-outcome correlates did not reveal significant differences.

In Experiment 1, four subjects were trained to match two visual samples (A) and their respective nonidentical visual comparisons (B); i.e., A-B matching. During nonreinforced test trials, all subjects demonstrated stimulus equivalences within the context of sample-comparison reversibility (B-A matching): When B stimuli were used as samples, appropriate responding to A comparisons occurred. A-B and B-A matching persisted given novel stimuli as alternate comparisons. However, the novel comparisons were consistently selected in the presence of nonmatching stimuli: i.e., during trials comprised of a novel comparison, an A or B sample from one stimulus class, and an "incorrect" comparison from the other, B or A stimuli respectively. In Experiment 2, three groups of subjects were trained under three different mediated transfer paradigms (e.g., A-B, C-B matching). Tests for reversibility (e.g., B0A, B0C matching) and mediated transfer (e.g., A-C, C-A matching)evinced stimulus equivalences for 11 of 12 subjects. The 11 subjects also matched the mediated equivalences given novel comparisons; whereas, they selected the novel comparisons when combined with nonmatching stimuli. Overall, the demonstrated stimulus equivalences favor a concept learning interpretation of non-identity matching-to-sample. Additionally, the trained and mediated matching relations were comprised of complementary sets of S+ and S- rules: Any stimulus of a given class used as a sample designated both the "correct" and "incorrect" comparisons.

Adolescence is an important period in the life cycle for which to study stress, due to the many involved developmental changes that require adaptation. This adaptation can be very stressful and result in pathology. Stress is defined as a "process" involving a continual transaction between stressors in the environment, mediating variables, and stress responses. The Stress-Response Scale for Adolescents (SRSA) was developed to measure self-perceived stress responses of those between the ages of 14 to 20. The SRSA's development involved three studies. Study 1 involved item selection, scale construction, item reduction, and estimations of internal consistency and validity. Truthfulness items were developed to determine the honesty of responses. Study 2 tested the ability of the SRSA, through roe-enactment methodology, to distinguish those in a high-stress condition versus those in a low-stress condition. Study 3, again with the use of role-enactment methodology, tested the potential of the SRSA to detect changes in stress-response levels when individuals were taken from a low-stress to a high-stress condition and vice versa. The final SRSA includes 32 stress-response and six truthfulness items. Initially, factor analysis of the SRSA revealed a high loading of gender on the primary factor. Separate forms were created for males and females. Repeat factor analyses of items in the two forms revealed four factors each for males and females but were of questionable utility due to high intercorrelations. All sections of the SRSA should be used for most purposes. Internal consistency estimates of the SRSA are .96 (2 < .05) for females and .94 (2 < .05) for males. Validity estimates are all in the expected direction and range from .25 to .79 for both males and females. The truthfulness items have a coefficient alpha of .82 for females and .77 for males, with validity estimates ranging from .34 for females to .14 (25 < .05) for males. Studies 2 and 3 revealed that the SRSA does have the potential of differentiating between those in different stress conditions and also of detecting stress-response changes. It was concluded that the SRSA, although in preliminary form, has the potential of assessing the stress response in adolescents as long as the discussed weaknesses, such as small sample size and nonrandomization, are taken into account.

Few studies exist that examine Latino romantic relationships; even fewer assess interpersonal power among romantically involved Latino adolescent couples. This observational study investigated interaction, negotiation of power, and communication styles of Latino adolescents in current romantic relationships. Twenty-nine participating couples (ages 14-21) were recruited from a small Rocky Mountain community; all identified as being of Latino decent. Couples were digitally videotaped during problem solving conversations and completed a video recall procedure administered directly 11 following the recording. The Quality of Relationship Inventory (QRI) was completed by all couple members as a measure of their overall relationship quality. In addition to this, the Global Assessment Scale (GAS), which measured feelings of honesty, being attacked, misunderstood, and conversation control was administered to each couple member after videotaping. The video recall procedure captured positive and negative aspects of interaction, negotiation of power, and skillfulness in problem solving. Power dynamics for each conversation were also rated by an outside observer on dominance through talking and dominance through not listening scale. Overall, these couples rated their relationship quality positively and viewed their own and partner's behavior positively as well. Low levels of dominance through talking and dominance through not listening were observed to be used by couple members as a means to handle conflict during the conversation. The majority of the couples were observed to be mutually engaged in the conversations and appear to have good problem solving skills. However, higher ratings of power inequity by both couple members and observers were linked to lower overall relationship quality, with differing patterns of correlation for male and female couple members.